Strengthening Neighborhoods
Neighborhoods are where we all live. The safety and comfort of our neighborhoods governs our states of mind, quality of life, and property values. We want to feel we are at home when we are at home.
Many neighborhoods are under threat on a number of fronts–loud college parties and the proliferation of outscale “mini-dorms” in neighborhoods near the UofA, louder planes under the Davis-Monthan flight path, housing stock near the end of its lifecycle in many core neighborhoods, and outrageously high rates of property crimes throughout the city.
We need to support our neighborhoods in many ways, primarily by given neighborhood leaders a seat at the table and listening to their concerns.
As a board member of the Blenman-Elm Neighborhood Association, I know many of these issues in depth. And I also know the wisdom that can come from a volunteer board dedicated to making their neighborhood a better place. We should be actively putting that dedication to work all over the city to help solve the whole city’s problems together.
One effective way of doing this is to create and strengthen neighborhood plans. Many neighborhoods have good plans on file at the City that set guidelines for appropriate future development and sustainable growth. But many of those plans have been ignored by Development Services, and many other neighborhoods have no plans at all.
As councilmember, I will facilitate an effort to help neighborhood association boards to create a new or strengthen an existing plan so they can take control over their futures and keep neighborhoods a great place to live.
